Grimoire Necrognosis
Preface to the Grimoire Necrognosis, by the author(?) Heironymus of Athkatla*: "Know thee, seeker of knowledge, that the forbidden rites contained herein are of a most vile and perfidious kind, and that such malign sorceries may not be practised by any but those possessing the most profane of wills; Furthermore, should thou seek to gain such knowledge, then must thou guard thy consciousness against corruption with the utmost fortitude and integrity, lest the full revelation of the arcane rituals concealed within sear thy mind and scar thy soul by way of their foul depravity. To those with the courage to read on, shall the following be made known, in the manner of Five Parts: In Part the First, shall thou learn of the fell rituals whereby a magic user of great skill may come to Know of the Dark Powers that guard jealously the secrets of magic,' and thereupon communicate with one such Dark Power; and furthermore shall thou learn the correct Words of Barter and Binding whereupon thou may compel such Beings to impart upon thee the knowledge of Soul Magic, through which may thou seperate thy Soul from thy Corpus and yet escape the inexorable pull of the Ethereal Void and moreover may yet affect the Material world by manner of Unseen Forces;'' In Part the Second, shall thou learn in means wherefore to construct the most intricate and profane of Dark Altars, being unholy devices of Black Onyx and most intricately wrought, being raised in honour of thy Dark Patron, upon which shall such fell rituals as are required to complete the profane transformation be undertaken; In Part the Third, shall thou learn in great detail of the design and manufactury of the Phylactery, being the vessel in which the Soul survives the seperation from the Body; and furthermore shall thou learn and understand the many and varied forms of the Phylactery and the diverse functions thereof; In Part the Fourth, shall thou learn of the Alchymical admixture of foul humours that must be brewed for the creation of the fell Potion thou must imbibe, and furthermore of the correct preparation and distillation of the Venom of the Elder Spirit Naga that forms the essential ingredient of the concoction; and shall thou learn of the nature of the sacrifice of Vital Energies to be made, being embodied in the lives of two kinfolk to be ended upon the Dark Altar, and thereupon their vital fluids extracted and added in part to the potent brew; In Part the Fifth, shall thou learn of the final rites to be undertaken to cross the threshold of Undeath, and the many incantations and offerings to be proffered to thy Dark Patron upon the Black Onyx Altar; wherepon must thou imbibe thy noxious concoction and thereby destroy utterly by means of Necrotic Energies thy physical shell; then shall thy Soul be shorn from thy Body and cast into the labyrinth of the Dark Altar until it find its resting place within the confines of the Phylactery or else be lost forever. Then shall thou be indeed a Lich, and thy Soul be forsaken in the eyes of all the Gods." *Neither the person nor the place can be cross-referenced with any other known records.